Amp Zaphrix Posted:

Personally, Wicked, I follow the Rede because, let’s face it, bad **** happens to people as it is, there’s no need to add to it. Of course, that’s just my five cents.

Now that’s a view I can agree with! I think that’s a wonderful reason to follow it, though I’d like to point out on little thing, just because I can get nit-picky over the strangest things. (Seriously, I’m well aware that the things I get so picky about just make other people ask, “Why the hell does it matter?” ) Saying that one rule is the Rede is like saying “Honor thy father and mother” is the ten commandments. It’s not. It’s one part, and is to be considered within the context of the whole. Personally, I blame Llewellyn Publishing for people giving the impression (often without meaning to, I understand) that the whole ****ing Rede is simply that one part. I’m probably being unfair to Llewellyn Publishing, but I’m willing to accept the consequences if I am.

Which brings me back to my point…

If you follow the rule of doing what you want, as long as it doesn’t harm others, because you deeply feel it’s the best way to do things, that’s good. But, if we bring it down to making rules for people to follow, I’m more for personal accountability and responsibility. I would make a rule that tells people to do what they want, but understand and accept the consequences. People like you, or myself, who have no wish to bring harm to others wouldn’t really have to change or behavior.

My point wasn’t that there’s anything wrong with having a personal standard for not harming others. My point was that when religions (and Wicca is a religion) give followers rules for standards of behavior, there’s the likelihood that, in time, people will just blindly follow the rule because it is there. I’ve seen this happen with Wicca. The idea of that rule being included in the Rede to let people know it’s okay to do what you want as long as it’s not harming anyone was told to me by several people over the years, all of them being people who are old enough to be my parents and started studying Wicca in the late 70’s. I’m open to the possibility that it didn’t happen that way, but I figure they’ve been at this long enough they may have the story right. At any rate, it has become pretty common to hear Wiccans say, “The Rede says ‘harm none’.” Well… that’s a matter of interpretation, isn’t it? If it was included to mean that you don’t have to worry about what other people think, it’s not “bad” if it’s not hurting anyone, then that’s not quite the same as saying, “If it does harm someone, you are forbidden to do it.” If it is, in fact, forbidding harmful actions, I at least find it a little upsetting that many teachers use this as a reason to teach their students not to even learn about harmful magic. Isn’t that what a lot of Pagans leave Christian churches over… being told, “You’re bad if you do this, so don’t even learn about it ‘cause that’s bad, too”?

That’s why I said I’d rather someone honestly decided to be an bumhole than blindly followed a rule that forbids them from being one. Neither of those is my Number One Pick for the kind of person I strive to be, or want to have around. The Number One Pick would be someone who has honestly decided to be a kind person.